FIFA Soccer 07

This year's FIFA gets a brand new ball.

Whether you call it football or soccer, this game has a grip on the athletic consciouness of just about every country with a competitive pulse, and FIFA isn't letting the years between World Cups slide by without fanfare.

Slide tackling from behind is a great way to get carded.

Playing Short

Lets's get the bad news out of the way: FIFA 07 for the Xbox 360 isn't going to feature the complete roster of teams and players that other console owners are currently enjoying. Instead of 27 leagues, you'll get 6, and there's no indication that the hundreds of teams this leaves out in the coldthe United States MLS teams among themwill be available as downloadable add-ons.

The good news is that this release of FIFA 07 boasts what might be the biggest improvement ever to hit video game depictions of the game: an independent ball. After so many years of watching balls stick to players' feet like great gobs of glue, that all-important orb is finally being treated as a separate entity, and the effect it has on the field of play is considerable.

The new ball physics allow for a much greater variety of situations.

The new ball physics allow for a much greater variety of situations.

Control Freak

At first it seems as though players aren't quite as responsive as you might be used to, since possessors are now tied to the ball, rather than vice versa. If the ball gets too far out in front of you and you want to change direction, you'll need to wait till you can lay a toe on it to send it on its way. As you get accustomed to the change, you start to see that this lends itself to a much more natural recreation of the sport than has been possible before.

Every kick, from short passes to match-critical crossovers, is dependent on how long you hold down the button before executing. Shooting no longer automatically targets a rectangle in space, instead requiring you to control your direction and power like a real striker. Gone are the days when you could ping the ball around the field like a pinball and rack up ridiculous double-digit scores.

Defensive moves are, as you'd expect, greatly affected by this change in mechanics. Challenging incoming opponents used to too often come down to an exercise in button-mashing, but that sort of nonsense will get you carded now. Slide-tackling from behind, or harassing an opponent too ardently, will net you disciplinary action from the rather vigilant referees. In fact, it seems like the defensive game might be the weakest part of the simulation, since much of the time your only options seem to be whether you have one or two defenders harass a player at once. Time will tell how this works out.

You get to play one-on-one rather than stare at a loading screen.

You get to play one-on-one rather than stare at a loading screen.

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